In fact, the 75th Division already had four Indian battalions assigned,[c] so of the 36 battalions needed to reform the divisions, 22 were improvised[16] by taking whole companies from existing units already on active service in Mesopotamia and Palestine to form the 150th Infantry (3 battalions), 151st Sikh Infantry (3), 152nd Punjabis (3), 153rd Punjabis (3), 154th Infantry (3), 155th Pioneers (2), 156th Infantry (1) and the 11th Gurkha Rifles (4).[17] The donor units were then brought back up to strength by drafts. In the event, just 13 of the battalions were assigned to the divisions[18] and the remaining nine were transferred from Mesopotamia to India in June 1918.[19]

The battalion was transferred from Mesopotamia to India in June 1918 and joined the Karachi Brigade where it remained in until the end of the First World War.[20] The 156th Infantry was disbanded in 1919.[1]

^Gaylor[1] states that the regiment was called the 156th Indian Infantry whereas Perry[2] says 156th Infantry. The latter seems more likely given the designation of, for examples, the pre-war 18th Infantry, 98th Infantry and 108th Infantry.

^In March 1917, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force started forming the 75th Division, originally to be made up of Territorial Force battalions arriving from India. In May 1917, to speed up the formation of the division, it was decided to incorporate Indian battalions.[14] To this end, the independent 29th Indian Brigade was broken up in June 1917 and its battalions posted to 75th Division.[15]

Becke, Major A.F. (1937). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 2B. The 2nd-Line Territorial Force Divisions (57th–69th) with The Home-Service Divisions (71st–73rd) and 74th and 75th Divisions. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN1-871167-00-0.

1.
British Raj
–
The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India, the resulting political union was also called the Indian Empire and after 1876 issued passports under that name. It lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign states, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan and this area is very diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, and the Thar desert. In addition, at times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948, among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798, the kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, however. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory, British India and the Native States. In general, the term British India had been used to also to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also used to refer to the British in India. The terms Indian Empire and Empire of India were not used in legislation, the monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was often used in Queen Victorias Queens Speeches and Prorogation Speeches. The passports issued by the British Indian government had the words Indian Empire on the cover, in addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor, during the partition of Bengal the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, there were 565 princely states when India and Pakistan became independent from Britain in August 1947. The princely states did not form a part of British India, the larger ones had treaties with Britain that specified which rights the princes had, in the smaller ones the princes had few rights. Within the princely states external affairs, defence and most communications were under British control, the British also exercised a general influence over the states internal politics, in part through the granting or withholding of recognition of individual rulers. Although there were nearly 600 princely states, the majority were very small

2.
British Indian Army
–
The Indian Army was the principal army of India before independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of both British India and the Princely states, which could also have their own armies. The Indian Army was an important part of the British Empires forces, the term Indian Army appears to have been first used informally, as a collective description of the Presidency armies of the Presidencies of British India, particularly after the Indian Rebellion. The first army officially called the Indian Army was raised by the government of India in 1895, however, in 1903 the Indian Army absorbed these three armies. The Indian Army should not be confused with the Army of India which was the Indian Army itself plus the British Army in India, before 1858, the precursor units of the Indian Army were units controlled by the Company and were paid for by their profits. These operated alongside units of the British Army, funded by the British government in London. Many of these took part in the Indian Mutiny, with the aim of reinstating the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II at Delhi. The meaning of the term Indian Army has changed over time, The officer commanding the Army of India was the Commander-in-Chief, the title was used before the creation of a unified British Indian Army, the first holder was Major General Stringer Lawrence in 1748. By the early 1900s the Commander-in-Chief and his staff were based at GHQ India, Indian Army postings were less prestigious than British Army positions, but the pay was significantly greater so that officers could live on their salaries instead of having to have a private income. Accordingly, vacancies in the Indian Army were much sought after and generally reserved for the higher placed officer-cadets graduating from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. British officers in the Indian Army were expected to learn to speak the Indian languages of their men, prominent British Indian Army officers included Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, Claude Auchinleck and William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim. Commissioned officers, British and Indian, held identical ranks to commissioned officers of the British Army, Kings Commissioned Indian Officers, created from the 1920s, held equal powers to British officers. Viceroys Commissioned Officers were Indians holding officer ranks and they were treated in almost all respects as commissioned officers, but had authority over Indian troops only, and were subordinate to all British Kings Commissioned Officers and KCIOs. They included Subedar Major or Risaldar-Major, equivalents to a British Major, Subedar or Risaldar equivalents to Captain, recruitment was entirely voluntary, about 1.75 million men served in the First World War, many on the Western Front and 2.5 million in the Second. Soldier ranks included Sepoys or Sowars, equivalent to a British private, British Army ranks such as gunner and sapper were used by other corps. In the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny. The three Presidency armies remained separate forces, each with its own Commander-in-Chief, overall operational control was exercised by the Commander-in-Chief of the Bengal Army, who was formally the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies. From 1861, most of the manpower was pooled in the three Presidential Staff Corps

3.
Infantry
–
Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice

4.
World War I
–
World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany

5.
Indian Army during World War I
–
The Indian Army during World War I contributed a large number of divisions and independent brigades to the European, Mediterranean and the Middle East theatres of war in World War I. Over one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom 62,000 died, in total at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war. In World War I the Indian Army fought against the German Empire in German East Africa, at the First Battle of Ypres, Khudadad Khan became the first Indian to be awarded a Victoria Cross. Indian divisions were sent to Egypt, Gallipoli and nearly 700,000 served in Mesopotamia against the Ottoman Empire. While some divisions were sent overseas others had to remain in India guarding the North West Frontier and on internal security, field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from 1942 asserted that the British couldnt have come through both wars if they hadnt had the Indian Army. Herbert Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India in 1902 and after five years, the reforms now directed that there would be only one Indian Army, the three armies of the Presidencies being merged into a unified force. At the same time, the regiments of the Princely states were made available to be called out to become Imperial Service Troops, the British Army also continued to supply units for service in India, in addition to those of the Indian Army. The term Army of India was instituted to refer to the command structure which included both the British and Indian Army units. The Indian Army was also responsible for supplying a division in Burma, to assist command and control of the new divisions, two field armies were formed— the Northern Army and the Southern Army. The regiments and battalions of the new organisation would be numbered in a sequence and the old titles of the Bombay, Madras. One change that was not accepted was the formation of all-British or all-Indian brigades and it was regularly called upon to deal with incursions and raids on the North West Frontier and to provide garrison forces for the British Empire in Egypt, Singapore and China. The two armies contained 39 cavalry regiments,138 infantry battalions, a joint cavalry-infantry unit the Corps of Guides, the nine divisions formed by these reforms each consisted of one cavalry and three infantry brigades. The cavalry brigade had one British and two Indian regiments while the infantry consisted of one British and three Indian battalions. Indian Army battalions were smaller than the British battalions, consisting of 30 officers and 723 other ranks as compared to the British 29 officers and 977 other ranks, Indian battalions were often segregated, with companies of different tribes, castes or religions. Additional troops attached to the headquarters of each included a cavalry regiment. Each division had about 13,000 men on strength, somewhat weaker than a British division in part due to the infantry battalions. The Indian Army was also weakened when 500 British officers on home leave, in addition to the regular Indian Army, the armies of the Princely States and regiments of the Auxiliary Force could also be called upon to assist in an emergency. The Princely States formed the Imperial Service Brigades and in 1914, had 22,613 men in 20 cavalry regiments and 14 infantry battalions, by the end of the war 26,000 men had served overseas on Imperial Service

6.
British Expeditionary Force (World War I)
–
The British Expeditionary Force or BEF was the British Army sent to the Western Front during the First World War. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the Haldane reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War. The term British Expeditionary Force is often used to only to the forces present in France prior to the end of the First Battle of Ypres on 22 November 1914. By the end of 1914—after the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, an alternative endpoint of the BEF was 26 December 1914, when it was divided into the First and Second Armies. B. E. F. remained the name of the British armies in France. Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, who was dismissive of the BEF. The treacherous English and walk over General Frenchs contemptible little army, hence, in later years, the survivors of the regular army dubbed themselves The Old Contemptibles. No evidence of any such order being issued by the Kaiser has ever been found, in October 1914, 7th Division arrived in France, forming the basis of III Corps and the cavalry had grown to form the Cavalry Corps of three divisions. By December 1914, the BEF had expanded to such an extent that the First Army, the force was commanded by Field Marshal Sir John French until December 1915, when he was replaced by General Sir Douglas Haig. The BEFs Chief of Staff on mobilization was General Archibald Murray and he was replaced in January 1915 by General William Robertson. Lieutenant-General Launcelot Kiggell then served as Chief of Staff from December 1915 to January 1917 when he was succeeded by Lieutenant-General Herbert Lawrence, the two initial Army Corps were commanded by Douglas Haig and Horace Smith-Dorrien. As the Regular Armys strength declined, the numbers were made up, first by the Territorial Force, by the end of August 1914, he had raised six new divisions and by March 1915, the number of divisions had increased to 29. The Territorial Force was also expanded, raising second and third battalions and forming eight new divisions. The Third Army was formed in July 1915 and with the influx of troops from Kitcheners volunteers and further reorganisation, the Fourth Army and the Reserve Army, became the Fifth Army in 1916. The BEF grew from six divisions of British regular army and reserves in 1914, to encompass the British Empires war effort on the Western front in 1918 and some of its allies. Over the course of the war 5,399,563 men served with the BEF, the First Army was formed on 26 December 1914. Its first commander was Douglas Haig promoted from command of the I Corps, when Haig took over command of the BEF in 1915, the new commander was General Henry Horne. First Army remained in France until the end of the war, the Second Army was formed at the same time as the First Army on 26 December 1914

7.
Spring Offensive
–
The Germans had realised that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the overwhelming human and matériel resources of the United States could be fully deployed. They also had the advantage in numbers afforded by the nearly 50 divisions freed by the Russian surrender. There were four German offensives, codenamed Michael, Georgette, Gneisenau, once this was achieved, it was hoped that the French would seek armistice terms. The other offensives were subsidiary to Michael and were designed to divert Allied forces from the offensive on the Somme. No clear objective was established before the start of the offensives and once the operations were underway, the Allies concentrated their main forces in the essential areas, while leaving strategically worthless ground, devastated by years of combat, lightly defended. The Germans were unable to move supplies and reinforcements fast enough to maintain their advance, the fast-moving stormtroopers leading the attack could not carry enough food and ammunition to sustain themselves for long and all the German offensives petered out, in part through lack of supplies. By late April 1918, the danger of a German breakthrough had passed, the German Army had suffered heavy casualties and now occupied ground of dubious value which would prove impossible to hold with such depleted units. In August 1918, the Allies began a counter-offensive with the support of 1–2 million fresh American troops and using new artillery techniques, the German government and Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, nominally the Chief of the General Staff, were not party to the planning process. Eventually it was decided to launch Operation Michael near Saint-Quentin, at the hinge between the French and British armies, and strike north to Arras, the main reason for the choice was tactical expediency. The ground on this sector of the front would dry out much sooner after the winter and spring rains and it was also a line of least resistance as the British and French armies were weak in the sector. However, these remained only secondary and weaker operations, subordinate to Michael, the constant changing of operational targets once the offensive was underway gave the impression the German command had no coherent strategic goal. Any capture of an important strategic objective, such as the Channel ports, the success of Operation Michael led German infantry to advance too far from its supply bases and railheads. The stormtrooper units leading the advance carried supplies for only a few days, the advance was slowed by supply shortages, which gave Allied commanders more time to reinforce the threatened areas and to slow the advance still more. The stormtrooper tactic was to attack and disrupt enemy headquarters, artillery units, each major formation creamed off its best and fittest soldiers into storm units, several complete divisions were formed from these elite units. The Germans also failed to arm their forces with a mobile force, such as cavalry. This tactical error meant the infantry had to keep up a tempo of advance. Notwithstanding the effectiveness of the stormtroopers, the following German infantry often made attacks in large traditional waves, to enable the initial breakthrough, Lieutenant Colonel Georg Bruchmüller, a German artillery officer, developed the Feuerwalze, an effective and economical creeping barrage scheme. There were three phases, first, a bombardment on the enemys command and communications, then, destruction of their artillery

8.
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
–
Formed in the British protectorate of the Sultanate of Egypt, the initially small force was raised to guard the Suez Canal and Egypt. On 31 October two corps captured Beersheba defended by the Turkish III Corps, which weakened their defences stretching almost continually from Gaza to Beersheba, serious losses on the Western Front in March 1918 during the German Spring Offensive, forced the British Empire to send reinforcements from the EEF. The British Mandate of Palestine, and the French Mandate for Syria, L Squadron, A. F. C. and No.14 Squadron, R. F. C. were the sole flying units east of the Suez Canal. General Headquarters General Headquarters Troops No.1 Section No.2 Section No.3 Section Western Frontier Force Northwestern Section Southwestern Section L. of C, palin 23rd Pioneers 57th Rifles Patiala Infantry No.10 Co. The force was commanded by Lieutenant General C. M. Dobell, by January 1917 there were three smaller commands directly under GHQ EEF. Supply Depot No.303 Company ASC Camel Transport H and O Companies, G. H.12 Pack W/T Sections ASC Mechanical transport HQ, ASC Motor Boat Company Two Advanced M. T. C. de S. Barrow 6th Mounted Brigade 8th Mounted Brigade 22nd Mounted Brigade 20th Brigade, at the end of June 1917 General Allenby took command. The air component was the Palestine Brigade of the Royal Flying Corps, on establishment in 1916 and 1917, the first two mounted divisions had been supplied with 18–pounder artillery guns. In September 1917 these guns were replaced with 13-pounders, making the divisions even more capable, General Headquarters Troops Army Cavalry Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade Jodhpur Lancers Mysore Lancers 1st Hyderabad Lancers Kathiwar Signal Troop 124th Indian Cavalry Field Ambulance. 40th Wing Headquarters at Deir el Belah No.11 Squadron RFC at Deir el Belah No.67 Squadron at Shiekh Nuran, Aircraft Park – X Aircraft Park at Abbassia with an advanced stores section at Kantara was responsible for the supplies to the RFC in Palestine. Also in General Headquarters Troops were the VIII Mountain Brigade RGA IX Mountain Brigade RGA of A and B Batteries of 2.75 inch howitzers and the 12th Battery of 3.7 inch howitzers. The force initially consisted mostly of British and Egyptian troops, in the meantime, new troops were then dispatched from India, Australia, and New Zealand, in particular who made up a large portion of the army. The force also included a contingent of French and Italian troops. The forces of the Arab Revolt, led by Prince Feisal of Mecca, were also unofficially attached during Allenbys Damascus offensive, the forces successes ultimately led to Turkeys exit from the war and the creation of the British Mandate of Palestine. Deiran Anzac Mounted Division at Richon le Zion Australian Mounted Division at Deir el Belah Yeomanry Mounted Division at Deir el Belah XX Corps at Mount of Olives 10th Division at O99, P.20. d. 53rd Division at Ram Allah 60th Division at Jerusalem 74th Division at Latron XXI Corps at Jaffa 52nd Division at Jaffa, 4/11th Gurkhas, 3/153rd and 154th Indian Inf. 159th Brigade 4/5th Welsh Regt. 3/152nd, 1/153rd and 2/153rd Indian Inf. 160th Brigade 1/7th R. Welsh Fus, 1/21st Punjabis, 1st Cape Corps 265th, 266th, 267th Brigades RFA each with three batteries of twelve 18-pdrs. and four 4. 5-inch hows. 39th Indian Mountain Battery Troop Corps Cavalry Regiment 10th Division 29th Brigade 1st Leinsters, 1/101st Grenadiers, 1/54th Sikhs, Rifles, 38th Dogras, 46th Punjabis 31st Brigade 2nd Royal Irish Fus

9.
52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division
–
The 52nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd Division in 1915, the 52nd Division fought in the First World War before being disbanded, with the rest of the Territorial Force, in 1920. After the war, the division was merged with the 51st Infantry Division in 1948, the history of the division was carried on by the 52nd Lowland Brigade, and later the 52nd Lowland Regiment. The famous territorial regiments that were incorporated in the division were all drawn from the Scottish Lowlands and it consisted of three infantry brigades, the 155th Brigade, 156th Brigade, and 157th Brigades. Initially assigned to the defence of the Scottish coast, the moved to Gallipoli. While moving from Scotland the division suffered the loss of 210 officers and men killed, and another 224 injured in the Quintinshill rail crash, near Gretna, that involved the 1/7th Royal Scots. During the First World War, the fought at Gallipoli, in the Middle East. The division began landing at the Helles front, on the Gallipoli peninsula, the 156th Brigade was landed in time to take part in the Battle of Gully Ravine, where it was mauled, under the notorious Lieutenant-General Aylmer Hunter-Weston. Advancing along Fir Tree Spur, to the right of the ravine, the brigade suffered 1,400 casualties, or about half its strength, of which 800 were killed. When the remaining brigades were landed, they attacked towards Krithia, along Achi Baba Nullah and they succeeded in capturing the Ottoman trenches, but were left unsupported and vulnerable to counter-attack. For a modest gain in ground, they suffered 30 per cent casualties and were in no fit state to exploit their position, the division moved to Egypt as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, where it manned the east-facing defensive fortifications during the Battle of Romani. With insufficient water, the conditions proved too much for the infantry ordered to advance the following day and were not heavily involved in the fighting thereafter. Following the battle, they advanced across the Sinai occupying Bir el Abd, El Mazar and El Arish, the division fought in the First and Second Battle of Gaza in March and April 1917. As a division of XXI Corps, it played an important part in the overthrow of the Ottomans at the Third Battle of Gaza. The division then participated in the Battle of Jerusalem and it involved considerable preparation, the details of which were thought out with care and precision. The sodden state of the ground, and, on the night of the crossing, the fact that the enemy were taken by surprise, and, that all resistance was overcome with the bayonet without a shot being fired, bears testimony to the discipline of this division. In March 1918 the division moved to France where it fought in the Second Battle of the Somme, the Second Battle of Arras, after the war the division was disbanded along with the rest of the Territorial Force. However it was re-established in 1920 as part of the Territorial Army and was mobilised again in 1939 as part of the British Expeditionary Force in France

10.
15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade
–
The 15th Cavalry Brigade was a brigade-sized formation that served alongside British Empire forces in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, during the First World War. A maximum of three regiments served in the brigade at any one time, in October 1914, the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade was moved by sea to Egypt to become part of the Force in Egypt defending the Suez Canal. It was not until November 1917 as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force that the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade was involved in the Third Battle of Gaza. The following year the brigade joined the 5th Cavalry Division when it became the 15th Cavalry Brigade, in total, eighty-four men from the brigade were killed in action or died of their wounds and another 123 were wounded. Several memorials were erected to commemorate the brigade in the Middle East, the anniversary of the brigades most famous victory, the Battle of Haifa, is still celebrated today by its successors in the Indian Army. The states forces were recognised by the Indian Government and the British Indian Army as allies, when in the field, the commander of the British Forces alongside which any Imperial Service Troops were serving was recognised as the higher legal authority in accordance with the act. Imperial Service Troops were commanded by Indian officers, in contrast, British Indian Army units had British officers in all senior command posts, their own Indian Viceroys commissioned officers were trained to only a troop or platoon level of command. The Imperial Service Troops included cavalry, infantry, artillery, sappers and transport regiments or battalions, the first states to provide troops for active service were Gwalior and Jaipur for the Chitral Expedition in 1895. Hyderabad sent troops to Burma in 1898 and to the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1902, during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion in China, part of the British relief force contingent was an Imperial Service Brigade, raised from the troops of Alwar, Bikaner and Jodhpur. Bikaner also sent troops to serve in the 1901 Somaliland Campaign, the brigade headquarters had an establishment of seven officers and forty-seven men. The Kathiawar Imperial Service Signal Troop, commanded by Captain Henry St, chamraj Urs Bahadur with thirty-two officers and 487 other ranks, and the Patiala Lancers commanded by Colonel Nand Singh Sardar Bahadur with twenty-six officers and 528 other ranks. This formation remained the same until May 1916, when the Patiala Lancers were transferred to serve in the campaign in Mesopotamia. The final unit assigned to the brigade was the Imperial Service Machine-Gun Squadron formed on 10 June 1918 by amalgamating the three cavalry regiments machine-gun sections into one unit, some sources refer to the squadron as the 15th Imperial Service Brigade Machine-Gun Squadron. Even though the brigade was an Imperial Service unit, the regiments and brigade headquarters included attached British Indian Army Special Service Officers. In 1914, the three regiments had two SSOs attached, and Colonel J. Desaraj Urs Commander-in-Chief of the Mysore State Forces accompanied the Mysore Lancers as an observer. The Jodhpur Lancers joined the brigade with seven SSOs attached, the main body of the brigade arrived at Suez on 16 November, travelled by train to Ismailia two days later and started their first war-time patrols along the banks of the Sweet Water Canal. The brigade was not assigned to a formation at this time but were Army Troops under command of General Headquarters. The Bikaner Camel Corps, another Imperial Service unit, was attached to the brigade at Ismailia for administrative purposes, to expand the area the brigade could patrol, squadrons were detached to El Kubri, Kantarah and the Ferry Post crossing at Ismailia

11.
53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division
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The 53rd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought in both World War I and World War II. The 53rd Division was temporarily disbanded at the end of the war, in 1968 the division was finally deactivated, but its 160th Brigade remains in service today. As the name suggests, the division recruited mainly in Wales, the South Wales Brigade was also attached. The Welsh Division was mobilised upon Britains entrance into the First World War in early August 1914, in 1915, the Welsh Division was numbered as the 53rd Division and the brigades became, respectively, the 158th Brigade the 159th Brigade and the 160th Brigade. The division sailed from Devonport, bound for Gallipoli via Imbros on 19 July 1915, the division was evacuated from Gallipoli during December 1915 and moved to Egypt. The evacuation was forced by a combination of combat, disease and harsh weather which saw the reduced to just 162 officers and 2,428 men. Despite gaining the advantage towards the end of the day, the British commander called off the attack so that the divisions casualties, the division comprised three infantry brigades, together with supporting units. Some original battalions were detached early in the First World War to reinforce other divisions, the division saw a great change in its units between the wars. In October, just over a month after the war began, most of the 53rd Division was sent to Northern Ireland and they were both grouped together under command of III Corps. In March 1941, the garrison was reinforced with the 5th Infantry Division, the 53rd Division took part in many numerous exercises, training by battalion, brigade, division or corps level. The 53rd returned to the Welsh Border counties again in November 1941, with the Divisional Headquarters based in Whitchurch, the division was again serving under Western Command. The 53rd Division was later earmarked to form part of the British Second Army for the invasion of Europe. In September 1942, the received a new GOC, Major-General Robert Knox Bobby Ross. Like most senior British commanders of the Second World War, he was a veteran of the Great War, where he had awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Before promotion to command of the 53rd, he had commanded the 160th Infantry Brigade and, before that, however, the experiment was abandoned in late 1943 and the 31st Tank Brigade was replaced by the 71st Infantry Brigade, from the disbanded 42nd Armoured Division, in October. The division spent the period in the build-up to the invasion of Normandy in intensive training. In August it began to push out of the Odon region and crossed the river Orne and this was particularly so with Officer reinforcements. However, the division had managed to capture over 3,800 prisoners of war, the division took part in the Swan through Northern France into Belgium where heavy fighting took place to secure an important bridgehead by crossing the Junction Canal near Lommel

12.
Battalion
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A battalion is a military unit. The use of the term varies by nationality and branch of service. Typically a battalion consists of 300 to 800 soldiers and is divided into a number of companies, a battalion is typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. In some countries the word battalion is associated with the infantry, the term was first used in Italian as battaglione no later than the 16th century. It derived from the Italian word for battle, battaglia, the first use of battalion in English was in the 1580s, and the first use to mean part of a regiment is from 1708. The battalion must, of course, have a source of re-supply to enable it to sustain operations for more than a few days, the battalion is usually part of a regiment, brigade, or group, depending on the organizational model used by that service. The bulk of a battalions companies are often homogeneous with respect to type, a battalion includes a headquarters company and some sort of combat service support, typically organized within a combat support company. The term battalion is used in the British Army Infantry and some including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. It was formerly used in the Royal Engineers, and was used in the now defunct Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Other corps usually use the term regiment instead, an infantry battalion is numbered ordinarily within its regiment. It normally has a company, support company, and three rifle companies. Each company is commanded by a major, the officer commanding, the HQ company contains signals, quartermaster, catering, intelligence, administration, pay, training, operations and medical elements. The support company usually contains anti-tank, machine gun, mortar, pioneer, mechanised units usually have an attached light aid detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers to perform field repairs on vehicles and equipment. A British battalion in theatre during World War II had around 845 men in it, and, as of 2012, with successive rounds of cutbacks after the war, many infantry regiments were reduced to a single battalion. A battalion group or battlegroup consists of a battalion or armoured regiment with sub-units detached from other military units acting under the command of the battalion commander. In the Canadian Forces, most battalions are reserve units of between 100–200 soldiers that include an operationally ready, field-deployable component of approximately a half-company apiece, the nine regular force infantry battalions each contain three or four rifle companies and one or two support companies. Canadian battalions are generally commanded by lieutenant-colonels, though smaller reserve battalions may be commanded by majors, with the Dutch artillery units, the equivalent of a battalion is called an afdeling. Combat companies consist of infantry, combat engineers, or tanks, in the latter case, the unit is called an eskadron, which translates roughly to squadron